Department Press Briefing
VEDANT PATEL, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON
QUESTION: — to another region, Armenia-Azerbaijan.
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MR PATEL: Sure.
QUESTION: There was an incident – a serious incident today – for Armenian soldiers who were killed. What is your take on that? And second, of course since there are talks which are ongoing here, are they suspended or will they continue as planned until tomorrow, or does this incident impact those talks in any way?
MR PATEL: So first let me say – and thank you for raising this, Leon – we are deeply disturbed by the loss of life in Nagorno-Karabakh, and we offer our condolences to the families of all of those who were killed. These latest incidents underscore the need to refrain from hostilities and for a durable and dignified peace.
The U.S. is committed to assisting the parties in achieving this goal, and Secretary Blinken is directly engaged in the peace process. Direct dialogue is key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace. Yesterday’s meetings with the foreign ministers were constructive, and we continue to build on those discussions today and tomorrow as the peace talks continue. So there’s no change in the schedule, Leon. This is going to be something that we’re going to continue to work on.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up that, Vedant?
MR PATEL: Sure.
QUESTION: So can you assure us that the foreign ministers are laser focused on negotiation, given the tension that’s —
MR PATEL: Alex, I am not their spokespeople, so it would be inappropriate for me to characterize that at all. What I can say is, though, that this is something that the Secretary is going to be directly engaged on and continues to be directly engaged on this process, as is other members of our team, including our senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations, Lou Bono. This is something that we’ll continue to remain directly engaged on with these foreign ministers. As you know, the Secretary had the opportunity to meet with them both bilaterally and trilateral yesterday, and we look forward to having these peace talks continue.
QUESTION: Just so (inaudible), is the Senior Advisor Bono in the room today as well?
MR PATEL: He – I’m certainly not going to get into the specifics of the room and things like that. But he continues to be at the summit site and directly engaged on these processes.
QUESTION: Any concern on your end that ministers might talk the talk, but when push comes to shove, they turn to tension that’s happening in the region, and they might prefer to freeze the conflict, which actually serves more Russian interest?
MR PATEL: I’m just not going to get into what is an active process, Alex. What I can speak to is the United States’ role, is that we’re very much glad to be convening and hosting this, and the role that we’ve played similar to the last time that we hosted this – these kinds of talks earlier this year. As I said, the Secretary had the opportunity to meet with these foreign ministers. This is something that the department is going to continue to remain deeply engaged on, and I don’t have any other updates to offer on this.
QUESTION: Just to clarify – just on this issue, to – just to be absolutely sure. Can you confirm that there are meetings today?
MR PATEL: Yes. There’s been no change in schedule, Leon. The meetings —
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR PATEL: Yes, the meeting – there’s been no – there has been – the Week Ahead schedule that was conveyed to you, there’s been no change.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) tomorrow —
MR PATEL: I’m not going to preview tomorrow’s – any of tomorrow’s press engagements, but the schedule is certainly going to continue as planned.
